The Hindu : 31 Karbis gunned down by suspected Kuki militants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 25, 2004

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31 Karbis gunned down by suspected Kuki militants

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, MARCH 24. In a fresh spurt of ethnic violence, suspected rebels of the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) gunned down 31 Karbi villagers in two separate incidents since late on Tuesday night in central Assam's Karbi Anglong district.

The Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch), Khagen Sharma, told The Hindu today that 16 Karbi villagers were killed during a midnight attack by KRA militants in a village under Bokajan police station.

In the second attack, which occurred this morning, suspected KRA militants gunned down five Karbis in a village under Manja police station.

Mr. Sharma said the attacks were carried out by separate hit squads of the KRA.

The militants also set fire to houses in both the villages.

The police suspected that the attacks were in retaliation to the killing of three Kuki villagers in the district last week. Mr. Sharma said more details were awaited as the police teams that had rushed to the two villages were yet to return. Both the places fall under the Diphu Lok Sabha constituency.

This was the second major insurgent killing in the hill district since it was rocked by a fierce gun battle between the KRA and the United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), a Karbi militant outfit, which left nearly 50 people belonging to both the communities dead in October and November last year.

Several hundred people were injured while about a 1,000 villagers belonging to both sides were rendered homeless.

The bone of contention between the two outfits is the lucrative ginger business in the Singhasan hills.

The KRA accused the UPDS of subjecting Kuki villagers and businessmen to extortion, while the Karbi rebel group alleged that the KRA, which has its bases in Manipur, had infiltrated into the hill district to outnumber the indigenous Karbi population.

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